


Pale Lightning Strike

by junko



Series: Chasing Demons [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Boys Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 11:09:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji and Byakuya finally talk...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pale Lightning Strike

**Author's Note:**

> I'm diverging VERY slightly from canon here. Given that Byakuya and Renji are talking now, it will be impossible for them to have the exact conversation they have just before Renji is about to say something "heartfelt." I have tried, however, to maintain the spirit of that first conversation within the constraints of my story so far.
> 
> There's no reason to think that Ichigo still can't interrupt a similar moment in the near-future, however.

Renji woke up to the sensation of being observed. His eyes fluttered open to discover it was still dark. He pulled his head up, out of where he’d buried his nose in Byakuya’s hair. Through the window, Renji could see the moon sinking down over the rooftops. He glanced around the room, trying to spot the source of the creepy-crawly feeling. But, if someone had been in the captain’s suite, they were gone now.

Renji took a moment to rearrange the covers before settling back down. Byakuya was right. He did have a tendency to steal blankets. Somehow, he’d even snagged a large portion of the new one Eishirō had tucked into Byakuya’s side of the bed in an effort to keep Renji from running off with it.

He folded it around Byakuya’s shoulder with a whispered, “Sorry.”

"It's all right. It seems to be the price of having you in my bed,” Byakuya replied. With a groan at the effort, he rolled over to face Renji.

Maybe you shouldn’t exert yourself like that,” Renji said, gingerly making room as Byakuya wedged himself under Renji’s chin. Despite the obvious discomfort it caused him, Byakuya seemed determined to snuggle, and he stubbornly flung an arm around Renji’s naked waist.

“We need to talk,” Byakuya said in the sharp, precise tone he often used when issuing commands, except the impact was muffled by the fact Byakuya’s lips were now pressed into the hollow of Renji’s throat.

If it was going to be a serious talk, Renji would prefer something more face-to-face and maybe in the daylight, and certainly not with all of these physical sensations overwhelming his ability to concentrate.

Byakuya’s breath tickled Renji’s skin in a way that made Renji’s heart quicken. The smell of Byakuya filled Renji’s nose—that amazingly tantalizing combination of subtle, rich perfume and musky man. He was hyperaware of everywhere their bodies touched, too. Byakuya’s thin-boned fingers rested lightly in the small of Renji’s naked back; Renji’s sweaty palms clung to the silk covering the captain’s shoulder blades; his leg curled around one of Byakuya’s, skin on skin. Their reistsu entwined carefully, tentatively.

Renji hoped to hell this wasn’t going to be good-bye.

He held his breath, and tried to sniff out any subtleties in Byakuya’s spiritual pressure. Was there something dark and cold there? Did it feel more like loneliness or… fear?

Fear? What did Byakuya have to be afraid of?

“Are you planning on taking the captain’s exam?” Byakuya’s voice was steady and unemotional, but it had a hollow edge to it.

Renji almost laughed with relief. “Good gods, no.”

Renji tried to pull back to see Byakuya’s face, but Byakuya held him tighter, a surprisingly steely grip on his waist, “Why not?” the captain asked, “You’ve demonstrated bankai.”

“I got bankai, sure, and… I have proficiency in what else, exactly?” Renji let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “I’ve got no real kidō skills, my hakuda isn’t particularly awesome, and, as you rightly pointed out after pounding my ass into the ground, it’s not like I truly own bankai, either.”

Byakuya said nothing, but Renji could tell he was still unconvinced.

“Look, I’ve been your lieutenant for barely two full months. Before that, I spent half a century as a Sixth Seat, kicking around with the Eleventh—not exactly a high profile gig, if you know what I’m saying? I think I still have a few things to learn about command before taking the leap to a full captaincy. Besides, where would they place me? All the open spots have guys I went to Academy with as lieutenants. Would any of them take me seriously as a captain? Kira, maybe, but that’s just because he takes everything seriously. Hisagi—no way. He’s like that guy I looked up to when I was a kid. How weird would that be to be his commander? He’s a colleague on a good day, but I mostly still kind of think of him as my teacher—because he _was._ And Momo? Well, maybe I could take over at the Fifth Division, but those guys are known for their kidō. I don’t really fit there.”

“As their captain you could recast the division in your own image,” Byakuya said.

“You trying to get rid of me?” Renji asked. “Because I’ll go if you want me to.”

Renji could feel the almost imperceptible shake of Byakuya’s head against his chest. “You sell yourself short, Renji Abarai. You would make a fine captain. If that is your ambition, I don’t wish to hold you back.”

Renji couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

“What about this conversation amuses you?” Byakuya asked, with a trace of snappishness.

“That phrase. It’s just one of those life’s little irony things. I let Rukia go, because I refused to hold her back. Now you’re pushing me away for the same stupid reason. It’s a weird circle of Kuchikis and people in love being too fucking selfless.”

“I’m not pushing you away,” Byakuya murmured. “But neither will I block your forward momentum.”

“I don’t mind you being out in front, Taicho. It gives me somewhere to focus my ambition. I’ll leave when I surpass you—when you’re moving so slow, I just sail on by,” Renji said, making a passing motion with his hand, and a swooshing sound Byakuya ear.

Now it was Byakuya’s turn to let out a little laugh, as his shoulders relaxed and the edge left his reistsu. “Indeed? All is well. We shall be together a very, very long time.”

 

#

Renji got up early and started dressing. Even though no one implied he wasn’t welcome, Renji decided it would be awkward to hang around. Rukia would be sure to come with breakfast any moment, and she and Byakuya had their own issues to work out.

The sunlight streamed in as Renji sat on the edge of the bed to dress. As he shouldered into the shitage, he glanced over at Byakuya. The morning didn’t do his pale complexion any favors. Normally, his porcelain skin was one of Renji’s favorite features, but the poison lingering in his system left Byakuya looking washed out and drawn. Renji was still getting used to seeing Byakuya without the kenseikan—outside of sex, that was. With his hair unbound Byakuya looked so much more vulnerable and younger. It was weird, considering his associations with it, but Renji almost wished Byakuya wanted to wear it again. Renji almost felt like, if Byakuya had the hairpiece in place, he’d somehow gain strength from it, the way he had having Senbonzakura nearby.

But, Renji supposed there was some craftsman somewhere far away spending the Kuchikis’ fortune to carve another—since Ichigo had smashed the first.

Without even realizing, he was doing it, Renji stroked Byakuya’s face, gently pushing the hair from where it had fallen in front of his eyes. Byakuya’s eyes fluttered open, “Good morning,” he murmured.

Renji leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on thin lips. To his utter surprise, Byakuya opened his mouth a little, responding with a deepening exploration of tongue.

Byakuya’s playful darts into Renji’s mouth were extremely erotic, but, stranger, was that Renji found that being kissed like this—in the daylight—felt even hotter, more sexually charged, like somehow, despite the protected privacy of his suites, Byakuya was parading around in public proclaiming his love. Maybe it was partly because they rarely touched like this, so personally, so intimately—

\--So much like lovers.

It took Renji’s breath away; it was like a lightning strike to the heart.

After a moment of stunned inaction, he kissed back to let Byakuya know how much he appreciated it, and how he wanted this moment to never end.

But, it was clear that even this tiny glimmer of passion quickly took its toll on Byakuya’s health. Even though he made no outward movement to show it, Renji could sense a weakening in spiritual pressure.

He pulled away so Byakuya didn’t have to. “Well, hello,” Renji smiled lasciviously, “Good morning to you, too, sir.”

Byakuya merely smiled and closed his eyes, “How are things going at the Division?”

Renji went back to putting on his clothes. He tied up the corner of the shitagi. “Well enough, I suppose. We’re getting a ton of transfer requests, which I’ve had the Third put on hold for a while. There was a fight yesterday between a couple of the seated officers, and I guess there’s an office pool going, laying bets on whether or not you’ll accept my reinstatement. Most of the money is on ‘no.’”

“Ah, I suppose that’s something else I should deal with sooner rather than later. Have the Third make an appointment with the First for later today, and tell him Sasakibe must come to me.”

Renji raised his eyebrows, wondering what that little dig was about. “Sure thing,” He shouldered into the kosode, and stood up to tuck both shirts into his loose hakama, “Anything else, sir?”

“What was the fight about?”

Renji paused with a hand halfway down his pants and glanced down at Byakuya. Byakuya’s eyes were closed and he had folded his hands on his chest. It wasn’t like the captain to care about personnel details. “It was just a stupid squabble. Nothing to worry about. I got things straightened out.”

Depite Renji's efforts to sound casual, Byakuya wasn’t fooled for a moment. “I see. It had to do your insubordination, didn’t it?”

“Kind of,” Renji admitted, winding his obi into the hakama. “One of the guys took offense at some trash talk and fists flew. This stuff is bound to happen until you weigh in on the matter, Taicho. The division prides itself on having some of the best soldiers in the Gotei, and they’re deeply loyal to your ideals of justice and noble reason. Even though it turns out I did it for the right reasons, I look like I spit all over that, and, well—I can’t deny I sort of did.”

Byakuya let out a sigh. “It will be a difficult thing to walk the proper line.”

Renji sat back down on the bed to pull on his tabi. “Like I told the head captain, I’ll face whatever decision you make. In fact, I’d kind of prefer if the line was clearly drawn. I don’t want anyone doubting your ability to lead, or my desire to follow.”

“Indeed,” Byakuya said, his thin eyebrows knitting together into the closest thing he had to a scowl.

“Just don’t cripple me before my birthday,” Renji said, planting a good-bye kiss on Byakuya’s forehead. “I’ve got big plans for us.”

 

#

Renji lowered himself down into the cavern underneath Sōkyoku Hill.

He spent an hour or so practicing with Zabimaru before he sensed the person he’d actually come to see. “Just love the fur stole, boy,” she called out.

Renji stopped his exercise to look up at where Yoruichi perched. She was in her human form, but she crouched, cat-like, on the jutting edge of boulder. The bright sun shone in her dark purple hair, and made her skin glow warmly. “I can’t help what my bankai outfit looks like,” he shouted back.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure you can,” she teased. “I think you secretly like the fluffy collar.”

Renji let Zabimaru relax back into his sealed state. “Maybe I do,” he admitted. After a moment, he squinted up at her. “Can you come down? I want to ask you something kind of... well, personal.”

She cocked her head at him skeptically, but hopped down quickly. “What is it, monkey boy?”

Renji sheathed Zabimaru and leaned a shoulder against the warm rock. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You’ve been living in the human world a long time, right?”

She frowned at him, but nodded, “A century or more. Why?”

He could feel a hot blush creeping up his neck, but he plowed forward, “Because I want your help planning something special, a kind of a secret getaway….”

Her eyebrows shot up and then a slow, wicked smile spread across her face. “Oh, my, my! If it involves our little Byakuya-boy, I’m all in.”

**Author's Note:**

> No, I'm not spoiling the surprise by letting you listen in while Renji and Yoruichi hatch their plans for Renji's birthday. You'll just have to wait. :-)


End file.
